Huskers Rise in Orlando After Day Two

Orlanda, Fla. - On day two of Destination Orlando, the Husker bowling team finished with a 6-4 record and a total pinfall of 97,84 and a 195.7 average, good enough for fifth place overall. 

Nebraska opened the morning with a traditional match against the defending national champion No. 4 Youngstown State. The starting lineup for the Big Red was Lani Breedlove, Kayla Starr, Desiree Buchert, Haley Swindle, and Jillian Martin. In that first match, Martin led the way with a 236 that included a triple in the 10th frame; Starr would tack on 186 while Buchert and Breedlove would add 159 apiece with Swindle posting a 158. Neither team had a great game by their standards, but ultimately the Penguins would come out on top, taking the first traditional match 926-898 and bringing NU’s tournament record to 2-4. 

Match two faced the Huskers against Bryant. The Big Red elected to shake up the lineup for this match, substituting Abigail Starkey for Buchert and slotting the freshman in the second spot, moving Swindle and Starr to third and fourth, respectively. This move bore fruit as Nebraska would claim the match victory 1040-905, with four Huskers finishing above the 200-mark led by a 235 from Starkey, with Starr adding a solid 188. Back in the win column, the Huskers would move to a 3-4 record on the weekend. 

The Big Red took on Prairie View A&M in the third match, where the Huskers really found their stride, posting a 1028-746 scoreline spearheaded by a 247 from Breedlove and a 215 from Swindle. Starkey (203) also finished above the 200 mark, with Starr (188) and Martin (175) contributing as well. The victory brought NU’s record back to .500 at 4-4. 

In match four Nebraska’s opponent was No. 4 Tulane, where the Huskers would once again claim the win with a 974-888 margin of victory led by Martin (256) and Breedlove (207). Swindle and Starr would add 182 and 178, respectively, and Starkey would get through seven frames before Brenna Hartzler would check in for her, the two combining for 151. The win would make Nebraska’s record 5-4, bringing them above .500 for the first time since match one of the tournament. 

The final match of the day pitted the Huskers against No. 9 Louisiana Tech. NU was electric in this contest, with Hartzler and Martin each posting a 234 pinfall, with Starr (231) and Swindle (210) both finishing above 200 and Breedlove adding 172. The Big Red won the match with a 1081-924 pinfall difference, bringing their tournament record to 6-4 at the end of day two. The victory was also notable for being head coach Paul Klempa's 500th career win, capping off a day of resurgence for Nebraska.

Three Huskers finished the day in the top 25 for individual performances. Martin finished fourth overall with 1,105 total pinfall with a 221.0 average, followed by Breedlove in fifteenth with 997 total pins and a 199.4 average, and Kayla Starr in twenty-fourth with a 971 pinfall and an average of 194.2. 

NU begins playing again Sunday morning against No. 21 Valparaiso at 7:25 a.m. (CT) in one last traditional match to determine bracket seeding for the three best-4-of-7 baker matches. 

Stay up to date with the action by following the Nebraska Women's Bowling Twitter (@HuskerBowling), Instagram (@huskerbowling) and Facebook. 

Destination Orlando Top 10 Standings (Pinfall After Second Day of Competition) 

No. 1 Jacksonville State – 10,451 

No. 9 Louisiana Tech – 10,023 

No. 5 Wichita State – 10,004 

No. 3 Vanderbilt – 9,876 

No. 2 Nebraska – 9,784 

No.7 NCAT – 9,515 

No. 19 Tulane – 9,489 

No. 11 Sacred Heart – 9,446 

No. 18 UAB – 9,433 

No. 4 Youngstown State – 9,370